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Marines pass through Enumclaw Saturday

Enumclaw residents are invited cheer on a band of Marines as they pass through town Saturday afternoon as part of a 100-mile run that aims to honor military veterans from Washington state and raise money for research of brain diseases and injuries experienced by veterans.

The ultramarathon runners are part of the Always Brothers program, a nonprofit fraternal organization made up of Marines, other veterans and their supporters.

The group will depart Leschi at 6 a.m. Saturday and run through Mercer Island, Renton and Maple Valley before entering Enumclaw at about 4 p.m. Their trek will then take them to the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs Soldiers Home in Orting. After a short break, they’ll continue along the outskirts of Puyallup and on through Sumner, Auburn, Kent, Tukwila, South Park and West Seattle, where they will be joined by a police escort as they cross the West Seattle bridge and finish, as a group, at CenturyLink Field at 9 a.m. Sunday.

This is the third year Always Brothers has hosted the 100-mile, 24-hour ultramarathon to benefit Marines and their families. This event, unique in that it is not a race, will raise money for One Mind for Research, a Seattle nonprofit dedicated to curing brain diseases, including traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress.

Some runners will run the entire 100 miles while others will run as part of a team, with each team member running 5 to 25-mile legs. No matter the distance each participant runs, the ultramarathon is not a race. Participants will stick together the entire way, raising awareness of brain diseases.

Always Brothers started as a fraternal organization of Marines that served at Marine Barracks 8th & I, and the Marine Security Forces teams at Camp David, the White House and the White House Communications Agency. More information is available at AlwaysBrothers.org.

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